Disclaimer - The world of Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling and various publishers. I make no claim to ownership.
A/N: Again, many thanks to my beta Vettesr. The bond strengthens again in this chapter.
Chapter 8: Nicholas Flamel
Albus Dumbledore was concerned. It seems that Harry and Hermione had discovered the book on Soul Bonding. He had been keeping an eye on it and forgotten that Harry had the invisibility cloak. It seems he had made use of it to scour the restricted section of the library.
After talking to Minerva, they decided there was little they could do except provide guidance for the two.
Hermione and Harry found an empty classroom where they wouldn't be disturbed. Locking the door, Hermione drew Harry close, wrapping her arms around his neck. Harry responded by pulling her even closer and lowering his lips to hers.
The bond took hold and progressed a bit further, bringing them ever closer together. An aura formed around them, faint at first, and not noticed by the pair. Slowly it grew stronger as they kissed, glowing a soft blue.
Harry felt his body respond, his emotions growing dangerously. His breathing became ragged and his vision blurred.
Hermione felt the bonding strengthen and was the first to notice the blue glow. Startled, she broke the kiss and pulled back, dazed.
Finally, they regained their composure and sat down.
Wow Hermione, I'd never have guessed it could get better, but every time we kiss, I feel like I'm lost in you; every part of me tingles! I can't get enough of you!
Hermione, breathing heavily, agreed. We'd better be careful; There was a blue glow surrounding us. I nearly lost control that time. The Soul Bonding book I read, said that once a bond starts, it progresses quite rapidly at first. Kissing will bring on the second stage, where the lovers will not want to be apart for any length of time. The third stage is initiated by sexual intercourse and the couple will initially be unable to stand to be apart for any reason. They would have to maintain constant contact with one another until the bond is complete. Any separation would be disastrous, as the bond will invoke the full magical powers of the pair. Wild uncontrolled magic would be released if contact were broken. It could kill the pair and anyone close by. The contact would have to be maintained for up to two days, culminating in a feeling of intense emotion and sexual release. Afterward, the couple would be able to resume a normal life, but if one should die, the other would not live long. A bonded pair would be able to share their magical power, even over a long distance. If one of the pair was in danger, the other would magically appear at their side. The connection ensured the likelihood that both survived, or both perished; for neither could live without the other. The magical power of the pair rose exponentially when the bond was complete. Singly they would be much more powerful than before; together they would be most formidable.
Magical law would consider them married and adult, regardless of their ages.
Harry gasped at this revelation. You would be Mrs. Potter! How do you feel about that?
Harry, I'd love to be Mrs. Potter, but we must be careful. We're much too young to be thinking about marriage. I know we'll marry, but let's wait a few years. It's going to be hard not to take that final step, but we must wait.
Alright Hermione, I almost lost control as well. We can do other things, but not anything that would complete the bond. I'll always be here for you. We love each other, and that's not going to change. We'll have to tell your parents soon though. I can't imagine being apart from you over the summer.
Nor I. I'll owl Mum and Dad and try to work something out. They won't be happy, that's for sure.
I'll have to meet them as soon as possible too, said Harry. Perhaps Professor Dumbledore can help. We should see him as soon as we can. He warned us about going to fast. Oh, this is going to be so hard!
We can do it Harry, if we really try. I love you! She kissed him tenderly again and they left the classroom, wondering if they could really keep from completing the bond before they were older.
***
The days slipped by and the foursome had started revising for the spring term exams. It was a bit early to start thinking of the exams, but they wanted to do well when the time came. The teachers were pressing the students hard with homework and seemed to think that the exams were important enough to start revising early. Ron complained as usual, but with the other three pressing and in particular Harry and Hermione, he reluctantly joined them. Harry and Hermione didn't have a chance to see Dumbledore for several weeks.
The chance came in a rare break in revising. Harry caught the Headmaster's eye and indicated they wanted to see him. Dumbledore told them to meet him in his office at nine PM that night.
Climbing the circular stairs to the Headmaster's office, they were nervously thinking about that to say. How much do we tell him Harry? Hermione asked.
I guess everything, Harry replied. We need to know more than the book has been able to tell us.
"Good evening Harry, Hermione." The Headmaster greeted. Professor McGonagall was there as well. "I took the liberty of inviting Professor McGonagall to sit in, since she is your head of house. Now, what seems to be troubling you?"
"Well, Sir, Professor," Hermione began, "We need more information on this Soul Bond we share. Umm, we've seen one book and it explains it pretty well, but there are a couple of points that… well… are unclear. We find it very difficult to… um… well, not to complete the bond," she finished going red.
"And, I have to talk to my parents with Harry about this bond. Can you arrange for them to come here? We'd appreciate some help explaining this to them."
"Harry, Hermione, of course we'll be glad to meet your parents and help explain this to them.
The bond itself is not clearly understood in your case. It would appear that the bond is generating a feedback to fulfill itself. This is very worrisome, since you are both so young. And yet, you two seem to be handling it very well, in fact much better than I would have expected. Curious, it's almost as if you two were selected…"
McGonagall interrupted, "There are other books Albus that may tell us more."
"I suspect something other than anything that may be written down, Minerva. This is, after all ancient magic. I'll check the rest of the books carefully, but I suspect some ancient tampering. That may be hard to pinpoint if it was invoked long ago. We have no base from which to work. Perhaps it even originates from inside the school. Certainly the bond happened to our students, and not any other school. That suggests local phenomena. More research needs to be done. We'll let you know if anything comes of our search. Meanwhile, I can only caution you two to be careful. We wouldn't want any harm to come to you. This is very elemental magic, and therefore powerful.
Holding hands tightly, the two walked back to Gryffindor tower and their common room after being dismissed by the Headmaster. Lying in bed that night, they pondered what Dumbledore had said.
I feel a strong need to be with you Harry, almost an unbearable need.
I feel it too Hermione. Harry thought to her. The magic must be getting stronger! I'm afraid Hermione! What if we can't resist it?
From what I read, it could be very awkward to complete the bond here at school. There just isn't any privacy here. We need to be away from everyone, Hermione answered. And then there are my parents, what will they make of this? It could get very bad with them. They weren't exactly happy to see me come here. To find out we are practically married… they just wouldn't understand. I just couldn't live without you Harry. What if they take me out of school!
Harry could feel Hermione crying softly. Tears welled up in his eyes too. I won't let them separate us love! We'll have to be careful what we tell them. Of course we'll have to tell them about the bond, but maybe not everything about it. We have to make them understand. We have to find out why we bonded. Until we find that out, we can't take any chances.
Harry, it's a good thing, right?
Of course love, we'd feel differently if it wasn't.
Finally they both fell asleep.
***
Days later, Harry finally remembered where he had heard of Nicholas Flamel. Neville had given Harry a Chocolate Frog card of Dumbledore, and Harry automatically turned it over and gasped as he saw Flamel's name.
Harry showed the card to Hermione, who quickly went to her room, coming back with a large book
No wonder we couldn't find out about Nicholas Flamel. I'd checked this book out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading! He's over six hundred years old, I remember coming across his name ages ago and forgot. He's the alchemist that made the Philosopher's Stone!
Philosopher's Stone, what's that? asked Harry.
Honestly Harry, you must have been taught that in muggle school! It's a stone that can turn ordinary metal into gold, and can give long life. That's what Hagrid brought from Gringott's, that's what Fluffy is guarding!
I'll bet there's more than just Fluffy guarding the stone. thought Harry.
Of course! The other teachers must have helped protect it as well, exclaimed Hermione.
Ron and Neville entered the common room, and Harry brought the two up to date.
Ron was the first to comment. "Flamel is six hundred years old? That's incredible! No wonder someone wants to steal the stone."
Neville piped up. "You don't suppose Snape is involved do you? Harry spotted him with the bandaged leg. I bet he'd love to get his hands on the stone."
Spotting Hagrid the next day, they walked back to his hut with him.
"Hagrid, we think Snape is after the Philosopher's Stone," Harry said.
Hagrid nearly choked, and fumed, "Who told you about that? In any case, Snape isn't about to steal the stone, he's one of the teachers helping to protect it. Aww, shouldn't of said that. Ferget I said that. Tha's Hogwarts business."
***
The next Quiddich match was against Hufflepuff. Katie Bell was sick, so Hermione took her place. They had been training hard, and the weather had improved a bit, but the pitch was still muddy. The snow had mostly melted, but it was still cold. Neville had been practicing along with Ron. Both were getting pretty good, Neville as a Beater and Ron as a Keeper. The twins were healthy and Wood was as well, so neither would get to play.
The day of the match, Hermione was a bundle of nerves. Harry tried to calm her down, but her nerves were affecting him as well.
Once they were in the air, they settled down. They both loved flying and the freedom they felt in the air was a tonic they both needed.
As the game progressed, Hermione took more chances, and scored twice. Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet both congratulated her. That was all Hermione needed and became a force to be reckoned with. The Nimbus Two Thousand easily ran rings around the Hufflepuff team and between Angelina, Alicia and Hermione, Gryffindor scored almost at will.
Fred and George as Beaters, kept the Hufflepuffs off balance.
Meanwhile, high above the pitch, Harry was searching for the snitch. Hermione spotted it first again, and relayed the position to Harry. Diving from a hundred feet, almost straight down, Harry grabbed the snitch a few feet from the ground. Swooping back up with the Snitch in his hand, he raised it in victory. Landing, he was swarmed by the Gryffindor players, with Hermione in the lead.
Thanks again love; you have better eyesight than me. You should be the Seeker!
Hermione blushed a deep red. No Harry, you're faster than me and take more chances. I'm not sure I could have done what you just did. We make a great team though.
Harry had to agree; together they were unbeatable.
"Great game Harry and Hermione," the twins said, congratulating them.
Wood came over and warmly hugged them both. "We stand a good chance to win the Quiddich cup this year. The score put us definitely in the lead. You two were awesome!"
The final score was two hundred and ten to forty.
Ron and Neville were amazed at the level of play Harry and Hermione displayed. The after game party wound down well after midnight, and only stopped when Professor McGonagall threatened to deduct points if they didn't get to sleep.
****
That night Hermione decided to write her parents. It was a tough decision, but she could put it off no longer, they had to know about her and Harry.
Dear Mum and Dad,
I've met someone special on the train to Hogwarts. One of the first year boys had lost his pet toad, so I helped him look for it. We entered several compartments but none had seen Neville's toad. The last compartment on the train had two boys in it and I asked them. One boy was trying to perform a spell on his pet Rat. He introduced himself as Ron Weasley. The other boy looked familiar and when he introduced himself, I was shocked. It was Harry Potter, `The Boy Who Lived.' This was the boy I had been reading about and wanted to meet! He was starting his first year as well.
We sat down and started talking, getting to know each other. Harry's a very sweet boy. His guardians treat him horribly. They lock him in a cupboard and don't feed him properly most of the time. He didn't even know he was a wizard until his birthday!
When we arrived at Hogwarts, I was sorted into Gryffindor House, when Harry was sorted, he joined me in Gryffindor as well. We've been inseparable ever since. Harry's a powerful wizard for his age and can do magic beyond what was expected. Both of us seem to be able to do much more together. All of the lessons have been easy for us to do, even as the other students in our year have struggled. You just HAVE to meet him, you'll really like him.
Love,
Hermione
***
Several days later Hermione received an owl reply from her parents. They were happy that Hermione had made friends with a nice boy.
Dear Hermione,
On reading your letter, we were shocked to hear how horrible Harry's guardians treat him! Your father and I seriously considered writing to the child care authorities to look into Harry's home situation Your Headmaster came to see us and explained the circumstances of his home life a little more clearly, and now we can better understand the feelings you must have for this boy. I must say we never expected our little girl to form this strong a relationship this early. We'd love to see Harry when we meet you at school close of term. We're ecstatic that you two are doing so well in your classes.
Can we tell Emily?
Love, Mother and Father
***
After showing Harry the letter, Hermione wrote back telling them they could tell Emily. This meant they would have a little easier time telling them about the bond when they met. Both were afraid her parents would cause trouble.
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